In custody: NAB arrests suspect over modaraba, musharaka scam

Jamil Ahmed allegedly collected money under fake schemes by promising high return.

PESHAWAR:

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa arrested an ex-employee of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for allegedly looting money from people through fake modaraba and musharaka schemes.

Jamil Ahmad, who currently runs Galaxy Star Company Limited, has been charged with allegedly looting millions of rupees from unsuspecting investors.

Insiders familiar with the matter revealed that Ahmad and a few others operated fake modaraba and musharaka businesses. They collected money from people by promising them a high rate of return. However, neither the profit nor the principal amount was returned to investors.

NAB K-P has received a series of complaints from people against the fake businesses run by Ahmad and his partners. Jamil Ahmad’s partners Ahmad Khan, Sajahad Gul and Muhammad Hussain have already been arrested and are now in judicial custody.

NAB K-P is actively investigating the matter and is likely to make further arrests. Moreover, it has requested people who have been affected by his fake modaraba and musharaka business to file complaints against Jamil Ahmad or Galaxy Star Company Limited. NAB has advised them to submit their documents to them at NAB Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Block-III, PDA Complex, Phase-V Hayatabad, Peshawar.

Ahmed will be produced before an accountability court in Peshawar on Saturday (today) to obtain his physical remand.

Earlier in May, NAB K-P Director General (DG) Shahzad Saleem had raised concern over the fake modaraba and musharaka businesses. He said recovering money looted from innocent people in fake modaraba and musharaka schemes was the top priority of the bureau.  He had also pressed religious scholars to educate the public about such fake businesses through their sermons at mosques and madrassahs.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2014.